I'm afraid I don't love this plan.

The path from the entry way to the kitchen/great room is a corridor with rooms off of it--it doesn't feel residential. If you stay with the multiple rooms in the front, I'd at least turn the powder room into a full bath--because at least 3 of those rooms could easily be used as bedrooms.

The path from the garage to the kitchen is also winds around.

The great room is more convenient to the kitchen than the dining room is.

The kitchen doesn't get any natural light. I'm a big fan of bright kitchens and I have one now without windows--and it feels dark even midday. This can be ameliorated with lighting, but it's starting from a more difficult position.

I do like the upstairs plan more--the bedrooms are insulated from each other by closets and baths, which will keep noise down. The laundry is nice sized and very conveniently located.

The path from garage to kitchen absolutely winds around, and we don't love that. We've tried to avoid that but haven't found a good solution. The great room is locked in by the view (which is most awesome from that spot), the garage by the fact that's where the drive comes in, and the lot slopes significantly downward and I want at least my car to be on ground level. We originally had a back hallway, but then we had a lot of space in the middle with no natural light. I've considered swapping kitchen and dining room, but that would give the great view to the kitchen, which will have fewer windows, and be more awkward with the exterior spaces. Open to other suggestions, but this one is just hard to get around.

The kitchen does actually have a wall of windows. The stairs shown on the outer wall are exterior stairs that go downward, so there will be windows all along there. We currently have a no-window kitchen and that would be a deal-breaker for us.

What do the elevations look like?

I am really concerned about the size of your great room. I expect that room will be used A TON, and by the time you put space around the island, and the windows... I think it's too shallow to be functional for furniture placement and living.

I am less worried about the trek to the kitchen and living. There's a stop at the coat closet and as long as there is a great view and it's a spectacular area, it's, IMO, fine to make people wait for it a little. ;-)

Jannicone - I have been worried about that as well, especially since my 5.5' grand piano is going in that room as well. My husband keeps assuring me it's plenty big, but I'm not convinced. Unfortunately, I have NO visual special sense, so while I got started drawing it out, I just can't visualize it. This is why we have an interior designer involved though, and this is he stage of plans at which she likes to do a review to check for exactly that sort of thing. I will make sure she specifically looks at the great room.

Millworkman - I'll see if I can find the file later this morning and post. The room labels will be off, but the basic window placement and such is the same.

What is the size of the great Room?

Great room is 29' from fireplace wall to center of the the "hallway" between the great room and dining room (it dead ends in this room, but of course there will still be a traffic pattern there). 20' from the edge of the island to the wall of windows (so really more like 16' with a walkway).

Well, it's an original and strong concept: a linear plan and a single car garage. Unfortunately, there is so much being crammed into the footprint, that circulation is circuitous and lengthy, and rooms may be on the small side. Both first floor and second floor seem to be bursting at the seams with rooms and circulation.

Have you thought of fewer single-purpose rooms and more dual-purpose rooms as one means for reducing the number of smaller rooms and reducing the circulation areas?

Good luck on your project. I hope you can make this interesting concept workable! :-)

Here's the side elevation - only one I can find to share at the moment.

Thanks, Virgil. We've thought about cutting out my office - that's a luxury (Well, it's all a luxury really, but you know what I mean). My husband works from home at least part of the day most days, so we need an office for him. I suppose we could move the t.v. to the great room, but we have strong feelings about not having it there and instead sidelining it into a separate room to avoid the t.v. on all the time because it's there effect (I play the piano more when there's no t.v. there :-) ). We originally proposed a single bathroom shared by the two upstairs bedrooms, but our architect pushed that for resale each bedroom should have its own bathroom. We could eliminate either a bedroom upstairs or the guest bedroom on the main level, but for resale purposes (not that we're planning on moving, but always good to plan for just in case) we're worried it would hurt the house significantly to not have four bedrooms. We originally considered moving my husband's office down to the bottom level, and perhaps we should revisit that, though it will limit the windows. We'll have to keep playing with the lego pieces (which is what this feels like, since the shell is largely set and we're moving pieces around in the box).

I almost never comment in these things, I'm just here to learn, but your idea about no TV in the greatroom might deserve a second look. Your daughter is 5, and probably doesn't have a personal device yet. Our kids are tweens and teens now, and we have the TV in our greatroom. The thing is, it's not often on. Why? Because the kids have personal screens. They have phones, and iPads (issued by the school). They have chromebooks for homework from when they were in middle school and those were recommended. I have an iPad and a large-screen computer at the kitchen desk. Who turns on the TV? No one. So, oddly, when the whole family wants to watch the same screen at the same time(special occasions, sleepovers for a scary movie, or the SuperBowl), it's the TV in the greatroom, which is almost never turned on during the crazy hectic school week. It's for group-gathering-watching, which isn't that often! And we need a big room for that with a big sectional!

And lest anyone judge (and I feel the need to defend here--as this seems like modern life to me), I assure you, our kids are so extremely busy with school and sports, they really don't have much down time at all for fooling around playing video games. And at night, the phones are off, and they read books in bed.

Combine the media room with the playroom. No reason the two can't share a room. The kids will be young for a short time and as they grow up the room can become more media and less kids. One room gone and instead a larger room that for now if you need to, can be divided with a removable wall, or a curtain or bookshelves or ???

With the extra room you gain from combining the media room and the kids playroom, you can add a small full bath on that side and then eliminate the guest bedroom on the other side. Eventually if you decide to sell, your husband's office could be considered a 4th bedroom.

This would then allow you to make a straight path to the kitchen on the other side.

Your living room size is fine. At 20' long it's not too small.

cpartist - Interesting idea - I'll have to talk that one over with my husband. I find the idea of combining the playroom and media room the especially interesting - they're actually right next to each other in our current house with big barn doors in between, and that's been a great setup.

The problem we run into (and ran into in round one) is that when we have a back hall straight to the kitchen, we're left with an odd, windowless space in the middle of the house - too big for a single hallway, but too dark for most rooms. We just can't find a graceful way to deal with it. It also seems a bit odd to have two hallways with just the staircase in between? Though it does occur to me that perhaps we could move the playroom to that space, with it open to the back hallway for windows. I'll have to think through a bit more.

I wonder why the architect is sort of stretching this house.

The distance between garage and kitchen is just too long, and while they do not have to be next to each other, I believe that placing the kitchen closer, by shifting some of the spaces will solve a few of the issues.

I like the architect's free hand

Naf_Naf - he's working with existing pylons, at our request, and trying to take advantage of the view at the back while also keep the garage at level of the front drive, and also pull the garage forward so it's not the first thing you see (and not on fill soil). The other option would be to put all the garage space on the lower level, but I balked at carrying groceries (and everything else) up the stairs. Now I think my husband is attached to the idea of the generous shop space. I thought about suggesting moving the dining room to between the kitchen and great room, which would push the kitchen back, but that doesn't work well for covered patio space. We just keep running up against this - the house is going to be about the 68' long, the great room is going to be at the back, the kitchen and dining room make the most sense with the great room, and the garage is at the front. And then it's a bit awkward.

I just want to pause a moment to say I really appreciate all the feedback and ideas. I realize it may sound like I'm arguing with suggestions and really don't mean to be, just explaining the logic that got us here. So thank you all!

I agree with the media / playroom combining. It will make more sense as the kids grow, too. I worried about the room sizes, but when I looked at the dimensions - I realized I couldn't really say that they were "small" - but perhaps unsized for the size of the house and the style. I was going to add that there are too many single purpose spaces, but didn't have that idea into after I had posted. Can you move your office into the guest room? we're doing that in our new build - hubby is going to get the guest room as an office because it will force him to be neater and it has a great view. He really just needs a desk and place to put his laptops. Our other guest room will be the media / quiet room for the animals when we have a thunderstorm too - so it's pulling double duty. If you could combine media and play, as well as your office and guest, then perhaps you could move away from things feeling too much like a warren.

As for the great room - still think that is too shallow / oddly shaped. The 20' from the island to the window wall moves to 16' with a walkway... BUT - that assumes no one is sitting at the island. Think entertaining and people hanging out in the kitchen bellied up to the island, and in the great room circulating.... You would NOT want a sofa or a chair 4' off the island - more like 6' and maybe 7' so you are really looking at a 14' or even 13' deep room (and less if you float furniture off the window wall........)

And again - not sure what the entrance to the basement looks like - I see the stairs are open at the main floor level - please make sure that there is a good exterior grade door between the car hobby area and the main house, as well as a separate HVAC system. There's nothing healthy or appealing about the smell of differential fluid wafting into the main house. Ask me how I know.

I do like the overall design and that your architect is doing a nice job working with the existing pylons in the design - not the easiest set of "can't changes" to be handed. ;-)

Thanks, jannicone. I'm really liking the idea of combining the playroom and media room, at least partially. My daughter is actually home sick from school today and has been bopping back and forth between the t.v. room where I have Pooh on for her and the playroom all morning (which is longer than you'd think since she was up coughing before six). Merging them just seems much more functional. Though I also toyed with the idea of going back to a back hallway that would have the playroom off it, with no windows but basically one side entirely open to the hallway, which would have windows.

The great room is helped a little by the fact that we won't actually have much island seating. We're not a fan of it and greatly prefer a real table. I bake and cook quite a bit, so the island is mostly for prep space. My husband doesn't want any bar stools, but I'd guess we'll end up with a couple so my daughter can sit there while I cook. It still seems narrow, though, I agree. We'll need an actual furniture layout to know for sure, I think.

My office may end up getting cut. It will mostly be used to have somewhere to store stationary, wrapping paper, paperwork, etc. which could conceivably be relocated if needed.

And we've been very pleased with our architect. We gave him a bit of a puzzle with the pylons (and, honestly, just the site, which would be narrow even without the pylons - the previous owners were getting around that by using cantilever's to float wings of the house over the ravine, which isn't our style or budget). He also has the oh-so-fun task of coordinating all the consultants needed to get through the permitting process in our city, and he's great.

Oh, and yes, big exterior grade door at the bottom of the stairs to the shop, plus a buffer area of storage/mechanical rooms before the shop to help a bit too. I get migraines from the smell of various auto-related liquids, so that's a must.

This is a concept we are evaluating for our 2nd guest bedroom. I was going to do a pocket office upstairs but we realized that the 2nd guest bedroom would not get used that much. So now we are planning it as a flex space with a queen size Murphy bed:

Built-ins around the bed and far wall. Large computer/photo work area.

With the shop under the house and you having issues with the vapors I would consider some sort of vapor barrier between the floors. Then talk to HVAC expert to put in system to either run main house at positive pressure or shop at negative pressure. That way any air leakage is into the shop from the house. I see this all the time in an industrial setting but not sure how practical in a home.

Thanks, jisgren. I know my husband has plans for this, but I'll mention that to him. He's an engineer, so he gets totally into these things, which means I get away with totally ignoring them. I'll just touch base on this one, though :-)

See what your architect can come up with if you free him from the constraint of using all the pylons. They're just not that expensive in the overall scheme of things.

That's a good suggestion, as well. I'm not sure it will make a big difference, given it's along narrow building site either way, but we should at least talk with him about whether removing that constraint will make a notable difference.

I played around just a bit.

I moved Jeff's office down to where yours was and put yours next to Jeff. I did that so you both could have a closet space.

I then took the bathroom from the guest bedroom and moved it to between your office and the new combined playroom/media room. The media room is about a foot wider.

I got rid of the guest bedroom because now you can use Jeff's office, or even the media/playroom as a fourth bedroom.

I moved the powder room to the opposite side of the stairs and put the pantry next to the powder room. This now allowed the kitchen to be moved back so the wall of the rear of the kitchen is now against the stairwell, which gives you more space in your great room.

Now you also have an almost direct shot from the garage to the pantry and your kitchen and if you are like me and have traveled a bit, you'll be glad the powder room is also right there.

This now also gives the downstairs better flow.

My theory of floorpans... If you get the kitchen, the garage and the stairs in the right place, the rest of the plan comes together easily. Your kitchen and garage are pretty much stuck where they are. That leaves the stairs as the culprit for the long trek to the kitchen. It appears you have a lower level. The guest bedroom could go down there freeing up space for the stairs.

Summit Studio - I keep wanting to put the guest bedroom down there, but I think the result would be windowless. But I should double check...

A lot of view oriented projects on narrow lots here in Annapolis (I know your lot may not be narrow but it looks your buildable footprint is) and what I do is maximize the view from as many rooms as possible, which means I don't have any 2 story spaces on the view side, I put spaces up there. let the drama be the view, not a two story space (and they don't work all that well for kitchens anyway). I'd get rid of the two story family room/kitchen and get four bedrooms up there on the second floor (maybe even an office to boot) which would solve the guest room problem nicely. Or stepping up the back 18' or 24" is another trick I've used to get higher spaces without giving away all the premium second floor "view" space.

Also, the great room........ being a piano player myself, I don't see a grand piano working in there (probably why no furniture is drawn in...LOL!). A grand piano is a beautiful thing for the eye to behold so make it a feature. An example is here where it got moved from a out of the way corner (embedded thread) to a center piece http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3865411/project-design-update?n=11

But overall I think it's far better than most we see here. Exciting times ahead and the best of luck with your build.

It's getting better and better; no longer attempting to get 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag; down to just 7.5 pounds in a 5 pound bag! Keep at it! The best solution is almost in sight...:-)

If it was my house, I'd bring the dining room back adjacent to the kitchen and make a truly view oriented "great room" with deck or patio.

I like the ideas of doubling up spaces. You may feel you need four bedrooms for resale, but if there's a bathroom nearby and a closet, then a media/play room and an office can be considered bedrooms for resale--even if you never put a bed in them yourself.

Considering your plans for the your own office, would a larger media room with a closet and a desk area serve your needs?

Thank you all. I'm combing through and thinking about different options. We have a meeting with the architect Monday so lots to talk through with him then.

I played around just a bit.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, cpartist. I do like the flow a lot when we put that back hall back in.

I'd get rid of the two story family room/kitchen

This is a discussion my husband and I need to have with our architect. We currently have a two story vaulted great room with stone fireplace, wall of windows, and wood clad ceiling and love it. The concept was to recreate that, but I think we need to take a hard look at whether it makes sense - I think we might be able to get the same feeling with just a stepped up ceiling, as you describe. And I'll admit I am NOT sold on a vaulted kitchen. My husband thinks it will be great, but I'm not so sure. A compromise might be to not vault the kitchen and gain that space back upstairs, but fault the great room?

Also, the great room........ being a piano player myself, I don't see a grand piano working in there (probably why no furniture is drawn in...LOL!).

Yes, this is a concern for me right now. It's in the corner of our current great room right now (right between the wall of windows and fireplace - our tuner is amazed that it stays in tune pretty well!) and works well there, but I'm not sure it will work as well in this space.

If it was my house, I'd bring the dining room back adjacent to the kitchen and make a truly view oriented "great room" with deck or patio

Can you give me more of an idea of what you mean? Would you run the great room the length of the house then? Or pull the whole house back on that side? Or something else?

Would a larger media room with a closet and a desk area serve your needs.

I think combining my office, the media room, and the playroom all in one might be pushing it - that sounds like an invitation for my daughter to treat my desk supplies as her art supplies - among other things, I wouldn't be able to keep a roll of wrapping paper around more than a day as she'd repurpose it all :-).

Something along these lines...

I think combining my office, the media room, and the playroom all in one might be pushing it - that sounds like an invitation for my daughter to treat my desk supplies as her art supplies - among other things, I wouldn't be able to keep a roll of wrapping paper around more than a day as she'd repurpose it all :-).

Actually that could work too if your desk and your supplies were all behind locked cabinet doors that opened up when you needed them.

When considering whether to eliminate the two story room determine whether you might chop off the view of the mountains. I like to be able to stand at a natural spot in the room and take in the entire view. In your case that would be from the island. If you can still see the tops of the mountains by employing ARG's techniques I'd say go for it! Otherwise my priority would be optimizing the views from the living spaces over getting a view from the master. Your great room space should be just as tall as necessary to take in the full view and a little sky above the tops of the mountains.

I couldn't agree more with ARG's stair comments.